Saturday, April 28, 2012

Stem Cell Therapy for Thyroid Disease in Cats and Dogs

Questions:Stem cell therapy is coming into the limelight for animals and humans. I've read of its success treating diabetes, so wonder about the thyroid as well.

Do you have any knowledge of this, or can you point me in a direction to explore? Can stem cell transplantation help cure my older cat with hyperthyroidism? He hates taking the daily methimazole!

My Response:
Stem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms (including humans, dogs, and cats). They are characterized by the ability to renew themselves through mitotic cell division and differentiating into a diverse range of specialized cell types. Stem cells may one day be used to make cells and tissues for therapy of many diseases, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injury, heart disease, diabetes and arthritis (1).

Diabetes mellitus is the main endocrine disorder in which research in stem cell therapy has been investigated (2). In many human patients, as in our canine and feline diabetics, diabetes mellitus will frequently reach the stage of life threatening and severely disabling complications, which cannot be controlled by insulin alone.

Several other hormone deficiency disorders (hypothyroidism, Addison's disease) could potentially be helped by stem cell transplantation However, it is relatively easy to provide hormone replacement for these disorders, so there is not a huge incentive to use stem cell therapy for these diseases.

There is ongoing research concerning stem cell therapy for thyroid disease in people (3-6), but I do not know of anyone working on stem cell therapy for thyroid disease in cats. However, notice that — even in people — they are concentrating on stem cell therapy for thyroid cancer (4,6). Again, it's relatively cheap and easy to provide thyroid supplements for hypothyroidism. Hyperthyroidism is relatively easy to cure with radioiodine (7-10), so investigators aren't overly concerned with stem cell transplantation for that condition.

This blog is written for owners of pets with endocrine disorders, as well as for veterinarians and veterinary staff.
For more in-depth discussions of the science behind endocrinology, please read my blog written for veterinarians: Insights into Veterinary Endocrinology.

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About Dr. Mark E. Peterson

about the animal endocrine clinic

The only Animal Clinic in the world devoted exclusively to diagnosis and treatment of dogs and cats with endocrine (hormonal) problems.

The Animal Endocrine Clinic is comprised of 3 subdivisions:1) an outpatient endocrinology clinic for dogs and cats with diabetes, thyroid, parathyroid, or adrenal diseases;2) Hypurrcat, a radioiodine treatment center for cats with hyperthyroidism; and3) Nuclear Imaging for Animals, in which radioisotopes are used for thyroid, liver, kidney or bone imaging (scanning).